Project

Ceramic synchronisms in Middle Bronze Age Crete

Code
BOF/STA/202209/012
Duration
01 January 2023 → 31 December 2026
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Humanities and the arts
    • Archaeology of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Levant
    • Material culture studies
    • Protohistoric archaeology
Keywords
Minoan Crete ceramic typology Protopalatial Crete Middle Bronze Age Crete ceramic technology Minoan palaces early Neopalatial Crete Southern Europe Protohistory (Bronze Age, Iron Age) Comparative Quantitative Field research Ceramics Archaeology
 
Project description

The Middle Bronze Age in Crete is a period of demographic expansion, stunning material cultural production, and growing interaction with the broader Eastern Mediterranean. The archaeological deposits associated with this period produced large amounts of pottery that have made it possible to establish the Middle Minoan IA to Middle Minoan IIIB ceramic sequence in the different Protopalatial and early Neopalatial sites on the island (ca. 2050-1600 BCE). In this framework, and considering the bulk of the material, ongoing refinements to the Minoan ceramic typology, and new research issues pertaining to continuity and upheaval throughout this long period, the objective of the project is to synchronise major historical events in Middle Bronze Age Crete, based on the study of a selection of key unpublished palatial deposits.